Ten

Nine

The first thing I remembered was the crickets. Next came the splitting headache as I woke up. Groggily, I groaned as I held my forehead before sitting up, muscles screaming in pain and protest. I looked around in confusion as my stomach growled. Where was I? I picked up the gray sweatshirt that had been draped over my bare chest but was now in my lap. As I held it up, I realized this was the sweatshirt I had bought Madeleine, and that thought brought a slight smile to my face. It quickly faded, however, as I began to remember everything.

I looked around. I was in a barn that held many stables and farm tools. I had been laying on a dusty wooden saw table that had been covered with a white sheet. A chestnut colored horse leaned its massive head out to sniff me.

Hey sleepy head, I heard its deep, clumsy voice say in my mind. Nice hair. Another horse laughed.

My legacy that allowed me to understand animals was often times very annoying.

I swung my sore legs over the side of the table before I stood, stretching my arms above my head. I glanced around before I look a quick sniff. I smelled fine. I also noticed that my jeans had been replaced by a pair of loose yet warm sweats.

Hehe, he sniffed himself.

"Will you shut up?" I growled at the horse. He blew his lips at me before turning around in his stall so I could see his ass. I rolled my eyes. "Mature, really."

I heard a light pitter-patter of footsteps echo quietly in the barn before I finally saw my first face. Almost directly above me, Madeleine leaned over a wooden railing with her blue eyes shining. I dropped my arms and grinned up at her. Her red curls were loosely knotted in a bun on top of her hair. She replaced her beat up clothes for a snug pair of red flannel pajamas. She peeked over her shoulder before climbing over the railing and began to climb down the ladder.
I met her at the bottom and picked her up in a stiff hug. She threw her arms around my neck and tightly squeezed, her legs bent with happiness.

She leaned back and looked me in the face as I continued to hold her. She smelled like coconut. I loved coconut.

"You seem to be feeling better," she said quietly.

I shrugged my shoulders. "A little sore. What happened? Where are we?"

She kicked her feet for me to let her down. "You've got a little catching up to do."

I released my grip so she could slide down. "Where's Adam?"

"Sleeping in the loft." I watched as Madeleine walked over to the horse that laughed a me and gently stroke his nose. I could have sworn he wagged his brows at me. "There's some extra clothes and things over there," she said as she pointed absently over her shoulder. "If you want to go for a walk, I'll explain everything. These cuties don't like it when we talk about the Mogs, now do they?" She kissed his nose.

The horse shook its head. No Mogs, Mogs are bad, Mogs kill horses, no Mogs.

I smiled. I'd have to remember to tell her I can understand what they're saying later.

So I pulled on a shirt from the small stack of slightly-ragged clothes and slipped into a pair of worn work boots. As I laced them, I watched as Madeleine practiced her telekinesis by moving her shoes from the loft with her mind.

"You're getting good at that," I commented. I could have sworn she blushed.

After leaving the barn as quietly as we could, Madeleine walked with me through a luscious green pasture I could have believed was on Lorien. Rolls of hay sat in the distance as a herd of cows and bulls grazed lazily. I heard a few chickens squawking in the distance as the sun peaked sleepily over the horizon. The barn, which was ginormous and crimson, was the only structure for what felt like miles.

I whistled. "Damn, that's beautiful."

"We're in Iowa," she said as she, too, peered off into the distance in awe. "We're also in hiding."

Before I could press, she began to walk. I followed her quickly. She was walking towards the left of the cows, where I noticed tire tracks had made impressions in the ground.

"Do you remember getting stabbed?" she asked, not looking at me.

I nodded as I involuntarily felt my midsection. "Yeah... How-?"

"I gained another legacy," Madeleine answered. "Just in time, too. Adam brought you to where I was hiding, and you were almost dead. I wasn't even sure that was Adam, but I was forced to trust my judgement in the heat of the moment. He told me that since my mother had a healing legacy that it should be hereditary, so in a panic, I tried. And, surprisingly, it worked."

I watched her as she looked at the ground for a second as she walked. I wondered if she was thinking about her past and how amazing that legacy would have been when she was being abused. How hard had it been for her to trust Adam? Or me? How did it feel to be told things about your mother that you didn't know before?

"So while you were unconscious, Adam went and stole a car so we could get out of town. The police were after us, especially you and Adam. They practically had the city on lock down with barely any way to get out, but after taking a few back roads and laying low for a while, we finally managed to get out. Originally, Adam wanted to head straight back to New York, saying he thought he knew where the others were being held, but I refused."

"Wait, wait, they're alive?!" I stopped, beaming.

Madeleine paused, too, with a grin. "Yeah, but they were taken prisoner. The only one who didn't make it was Malcolm."

They'd pay for that.

"So where are they?"

We continued our journey as I tried my hardest to avoid stepping in cow shit. I even had to roll up my sweatpants so that they didn't drag. Madeleine, however, was not seeming to have the same difficulty I was having, and I envied her for it.

"He said he thinks they might be held in a clinic testing facility called Plum Island. He says that Serta- Set- whatever, the head honcho might want to see about taking their legacies and using them on his soldiers."

My jaw tensed. If they got our powers, we're fucked. Fucked, fucked, fuckidy fucked.

She then turned her head and looked at me with a smirk. "So, of course, I won out after we stopped by a little convenient store and saw yours and Adam's face on national TV. The camera crew you knocked over? Yeah, they followed you and caught your entire fight on tape. It was aired live. Everyone saw your legacies. They even gave you a nickname."

"Which is?"

Oh lord, she was grinning.

"Superman."

"Superman?"

Madeleine nodded. "At least, that's what the people are calling you. The government has issued a warrant for an" - air quote - "'Unidentified Extraterrestrial Terrorist who is a danger to the public'. The people just don't believe the bullshit. Everyone saw what they did to the John Hancock Center, and trust me, they're pissed. You are their Superman."

I smirked. "Do you think I'm Superman?"

She looked at my feet. "I think you just stepped in manure."

"Ugh, gross, oh my god." I tried to wipe my boot in the grass as she laughed at me.

As we came to the top of the hill, I noticed that no more than 100 yards away was a white house with a lovely front porch decorated with roses and vines. I stopped. As much of a city boy as I've been, I was taken back by how beautiful everything was around me. It seemed so perfect and quaint and country. I loved it. Madeleine nudged me gently with her elbow as she smiled.

"Adam and I stumbled upon a little town in Iowa as we looked for a place to camp. A woman in town saw you in the back asleep as we were loading up a few supplies and recognized you. Mary offered to help us get on our feet. To be honest, I think she has an old lady crush on you."

"Just what I need - another woman to worry about."

Madeleine shoved me playfully as she headed off towards the house. I wanted to reach out to take her hand and just kiss her right there. We were alive and young, and for the first time, despite the story she had just told me, I felt like everything was perfect. I mean, yeah, I needed to go save my friends obviously. But if I could just freeze time for a moment and stay there for a little while longer under the dusk morning sun and watched as she made the world seem a little bit brighter, I would. I hurried to catch up with her, but even as she was making her way up the front porch steps, I could have sworn the roses blossomed more.

Madeleine knocked on the wooden door as she twisted a curl around her finger. We waited until an elderly woman with cotton-ball hair answered the door. She smiled at Madeleine, but when she noticed me, she gasped.

"Superman!" The woman's fingers brushed her lips as she opened the door widely to let us in.

"Um, Stanley," I said with a grin. "You can call me Stanley, if you want."

"Oh, oh, yes, excuse me. Please come in. I'm Mary, and my husband, Paul, has already started work. Would either of you like some breakfast? Stanley, you must be starving. Where's Adam?"

"That would be great, ma'am. He's still asleep," Madeleine answered.

We followed her to the kitchen, which was exactly how I would have imagined. Wall paper lined the walls, and red apple decorations sat on her counter. Madeleine and I took a seat at the table as the older woman began to drag out pots and pans.

"Would you like some eggs? Bacon? Sausage?" The gas stove ticked to life. As much as I didn't want to ask her to cook for me, I was starving. I nodded, and Mary began to beat eggs. After a moment, she said, "If either of you would like a morning shower, feel free to go ahead while I cook."

After a nudge from Madeleine, I took my hint.

She showed me to the back shower and brought me towels and clothes. As I made my way through the den, the small flat screen sitting inside the entertainment center caught my attention. The news anchor, who had dark cropped hair and a pressed suit, looked sternly into the camera.

"Where is this Superman? Where did he receive these powers? Genetic mutation? Some conspiracy theorists propose that our government actually gave them to this young man!" He chuckled as he rolled his eyes, but I could tell that his eyes did not seem as dismissive. He tapped a stack of papers seriously. "After the break, CIA specialist William McKay is here to speak with us about this 'theory'. We'll be right back."

Damn. This had reached the CIA?

Cool.

"It's been like that since right after it happened," Madeleine said quietly as she touched my arm gently. "You're everywhere."

After that, I took a shower and ate a hearty breakfast of everything I could eat. Mary was extremely kind as she asked me almost every question she could think of. I vaguely answered her about Lorien, but I did explain that we did come from somewhere else. She seemed fascinated by everything as she listened intently. Madeleine cleaned up the kitchen as we talked. It was nice to be able to truly explain our situation with someone instead of having to lie.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Adam came down to the farm house and, with permission from Mary, took me to go round up the cattle on horses, who seemed to enjoy laughing at my hair. Mrs. Mary had even offered to cut it, but I put that off until later. Madeleine helped around the house and cleaned up around the barn for a while. Mr. Paul returned that evening with a truck load of feed, and Adam and I were asked to help haul it into the barn. In order to pay for our stay, Madeleine and Adam had been working, and now we were all pitching in together to help out. Mrs. Mary made pork chops and potatoes for dinner, which might have been one of the best I have ever had.

"So, Nine," Adam said between bites. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we might want to start making a plan for tomorrow. Sam, John... They're all still being held prisoner."

My blood ran cold. I had been distracted so much, I had almost forgotten. I cursed silently before nodding. "We'll leave tomorrow. Mr. Paul, Mrs. Mary, thank you so much for letting us stay."

"It's been our pleasure," Paul responded with a smile.

We spent a little while politely talking, but I couldn't deny that my mind was now wandering back to my friends. How could I have gotten distracted so much instead of focusing on the big picture? I had been asleep too long. I should have somehow forced myself to wake up. I don't know, but I had messed up. I was distracted throughout dinner, and after Paul dropped us off, I barely was coherent as I followed Adam and Madeleine climb the ladder to the loft. The chestnut horse, whose name I had found out earlier was Harold, shook his head at me sleepily.

It's okay, girly.

His buddies laughed. I didn't respond.

Adam holed himself up in the corner with a sleeping bag and a flour sack. He yawned as he climbed inside his makeshift bed. Madeleine went over to her palette, made of stuffed quilts and blankets. She had two pillows by her, and I awkwardly sat down beside her. Was this where I slept? She looked at me for a moment, and so did Adam. I looked between both of them as I hesitated.

"I can go back down to the table."

She shrugged her shoulders as she pulled up the blankets. "Um, no, that's fine."

Adam awkwardly cleared his throat. "So about the others..."

"We'll leave early," I said. "I need a hair cut to try and help disguise myself, and then we'll get on our way. Where do you think they're being held?"

"If I had to guess, Plum Island. It would make the most sense. That's where they took Madeleine's parents."

I looked over at her in slight shock as she looked away. She hadn't told me that. I paused before saying, "Then that's where we'll head tomorrow."

They agreed, and then we all laid down to sleep. Madeleine and I lay there in silence for a while before we finally heard Adam snore. Then I turned towards her and whispered,

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She turned and whispered in return, "It wasn't important."

"You're parents were taken. That's pretty important."

"Not to me."

I reached an arm out to hug her, and she laid her head on my chest. I held her for a while as the crickets chirped outside. The moonlight shined dimly though the small window, and I watched as thunder clouds began to take over the shining moon. She slipped her fingers through mine, and her shirt sleeve slid down her arm. I caught my breath as the jagged scar on her wrist finally became visible to me. She reached up and pulled up her sleeve as her face flushed.

"How long ago?" I asked quietly.

"A few months ago," she responded. "I just got tired of it, and I never seemed to be able to get away from it all."

I pulled her close to me and kissed her forehead gently. "Just don't do it again, please."

She nodded before wrapping her arm around me. We sat in silence, holding each other. I wasn't even sure where this was going. Were we going to make it until after the war? Hell, would both of us live? Was I just wasting our time? After a little while, I looked down and saw she was asleep peacefully, her small mouth slightly hanging open. I squeezed her lightly before watching the rain pat against the window. I was too worried about everything that night to sleep very well. A few hours later, as the moon began to take its leave, I finally felt myself slip out of consciousness. Nightmares plagued me mercilessly, and in each one, I was always seconds away from saving people I loved.

In one particularly, Maddy stood on a ledge glaring at me. I ran up to her to hug her. She was back! I wanted to kiss her and hug her and make sure she was safe. I forgot all about Madeleine or anyone else for the moment. As I got closer, I saw the tears streaming down her face. I stopped close to her before pulling her close.

"Maddy..."

She shoved me away. I stumbled, and the ground beneath us shook. "Don't do it, Stanley."

"Don't do what? Come on, get away from the ledge!" I stood to grab her. I wasn't above dragging her away from there, and I was about to when she held the knife out at me.

"Don't get hurt again, Stanley. Don't let her do it!"

"I..."

My voice faltered as her brown hair whipped around in the wind. What was she talking about?

I took a step closer, and the wind began to uproot trees all around us. "Maddy, let's just talk about this! Don't back up, just come here!"

Tears began to pour down her eyes as she took a step back. Her heel hung off the edge precariously. "We're just alike," she whispered.

Before I could grab her, Maddy jumped. I slid and watched helplessly as her body slammed into the rocks below us. I screamed as my heart broke again. No no no, she couldn't be gone. She wasn't gone. She's just a dream now, she's dead, she's dead!

I felt my shoulders getting shaken, and suddenly my eyes shot open widely. Madeleine was knelt over me as I gripped her arms with wild strength. Adam stood ready with a water bucket to pour on me as his hair stuck out like a psycho. I tried to catch my breath as they both stared at me in terror.

"I'm, I'm, I'm okay," I breathed quietly.

Madeleine stared at me as she began to wheeze. She had my arms pinned at my sides, and I noticed a red mark boldly making its statement on her cheek. She looked scared - no, terrified. She shuffled away from me quickly before racing past Adam, hopping the banister, and hurrying down the ladder. I swore I heard her crying, but my ears were beginning to ring, so I wasn't sure what I was hearing.

I sat up and rubbed my face. What the hell just happened?

Suddenly Adam poured the ice-cold water on top of my head. I sputtered and jumped to my feet, ready to kill him. He shoved me back, and I fell on my ass. I hesitated as I glared, but if anything Adam looked to be in shock.

"What the hell was that?!" he yelled with a cracking voice. The barn door slammed shut below us.

"What do you mean?!"

He shook his head and began to grab his hair as he paced. "You just attacked her! You were screaming about some girl named Maddy as you pinned her down and started screaming!"

"I- No, I was asleep!"

He shook his head wildly. "Nine, you were looking dead at her until you finally went limp!"

My heart raced in a panic as I shakily stood. My head spun as I looked around. What was wrong with me?

And suddenly my breath caught in my chest, and I felt my knees buckle. I grabbed at my heart as I hit the wooden floor. Adam ran over to my side and rolled me on my back as I tried to stay conscious, but it didn't work. I slipped away moments later, and the last thing I heard him screaming was for Madeleine.

She didn't come.